Podiatrical appliance



Jan. 24, 1967 J. N, A. CHARLEBOIS 3,299,894

PDIATRIClJ.:` APPLIANCE Filed' July a, 1964 United States Patent O 3,299,894 PODIATRICAL APPLIANCE Joseph N. A. Charlebois, 31 Sherbrooke St., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Filed July 8, 1964, Ser. No. 381,179 Claims. (Cl. 128-581) This invention relates to foot appliances and more particularly to appliances for protecting and treating the toe area of the foot.

A great majority of foot disorders are confined to the toe area of the foot and more particularly to the area between the toes where perspiration will gather and remain, perhaps for a period of time. This condition induces a general breakdown of the skin tissue and therefore causes contagion and irritation.

Numerous remedies and devices have been proposed for the treatment of such conditions. However, despite this fact, many people continue to suffer in this respect mainly because it is believed no suitable means is available for carrying out the desired treatment.

It is noted that common disadvantages of prior devices may be categorized in two groups, namely (a) Faulty design of the device, and

(b) Improper material utilized in the fabrication of the device.

It is important to the success of the appliance that the material of4 which it is made be moisture absorbent and of a reasonable durable soft tissue which possesses adequate tensile strength in order that the perspiration accumulating between the toes Will quickly be absorbed. It is also important that the appliance be of a material and design which is inexpensive to manufacture so that the appliance can be disposed of after each application with no great expense to ,the user.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a disposable appliance for the treatment of feet, such appliance being of simple and inexpensive manufacture, easy to apply, and effective in treatment.

A further object of the inventionis to provide a disposable appliance to be worn over the toes of the foot, the appliance comprising separate compartments so that each toe of the foot is isolated one from the other.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a disposable appliance manufactured from a highly absorbent material, the appliance being so Yformed that it may be placed in contact with the area around each toe and including the area between each toev of the foot.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE l is a perspective view of the appliance in accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 2 s a side elevation of a foot including a sock and a shoe, the shoe and sock broken away to disclose the position of the appliance on the foot,

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of an alternative form of appliance in accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of still another alternative form of appliance in accordance with the invention, and

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE 5.

Although various forms of design may be used with equal success the preferred embodiment of the invention will best be seen in FIG. l of the formal drawings. In this particular design the appliance 10 is fabricated of a moisture absorbent soft tissue material such as paper,

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cellulose fibers, or the like, and comprises a lower sole l receiving member 11 and an upper member 12. The

lower member may be oval in shape and of a substantially thicker material than the upper member to more adequately absorb perspiration of the foot and also to impart suitable durability to the appliance when being applied.

Although the lower sole receiving member is shown as being Ioval shaped it will be understood that any suitable shape may be employed as long as it is received with ease and comfort in any appropriate style of foot `or shoe.

The lower sole receiving member 11 has a front end portion 14 and a rear end portion 15. The upper member 12 is adapted to be secured-by suitable means, such as adhesive on the front end portion of member 11 and is positioned substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis of the lowe'r sole receiving member. This leaves the rear end portion v 15 of the lower member 1l free to be utilized for gripping purposes when fitting the appliance 10 on the foot.

V sions 22 having side walls 23 which alternately converge to an apex 24 forming a top enclosing wall portion 25 to provide a plurality of toe receiving compartments 26 and at the bottom to form channels 28 having base portions 29. The base portions are suitably axed as by adhesive to said lower sole receiving member 11 at predetermined intervals. It will be apparent' that the length of the depressions determines the length of the toel receiving compartments and, therefore, to provide n adequate protection to the toes, it is vadvantageous that the depressions 22, which taper away from the undulated `compartments 26 `could be substantially the same for their full length, it is desirable that in fabricating the appliance each compartment not only should be tapered to receive each individual toe but also should be graduated as to size to accommodate the various sizes of the toes. In other words, the compartment adapted to receive the smallest toe should be substantially smaller in size than the compartment adapted to receive the largest toe. It is also advantageous that the appliance be made in a range of sizes such as small medium and large so that all individuals may be properly fitted as to size.

It is important that, to obtain the ultimate desired results in the use of the appliance, the side walls 23 should terminate at a juncture 30 adjacent the rear edge portion 18 to form a webbed portion 32 which is adapted to contact the area of the foot between each toe to remove the accumulated perspiration from that area.

The form of appliance illustrated, with open end toe- `receiving compartments, permits the ends of the toes to be exposed and promotes freer circulation. On the other hand, it may be desirous to use a device, wherein the toereceiving compartments 33 are sealed off at the ends 34. Such a device is disclosed in FIGURE 5 and may include apertures 35 located in upper member 36 adjacent webbed portions 37 to permit circulation of air to the area of the foot between each toe. The upper member 36 is adapted to be secured by suitable means, such as adhesive to a lower sole receiving member 27.

Referring now to FIGURES 3 and 4 the appliance illustrated may be molded or otherwise formed of a moisture absorbent, soft, tissue material such as paper and is adapted to be worn by athletes such as skiers, hockey players or the like whose excess activity produces perspiration in all parts of the body including the foot area. This circumstance, combined with friction due to the movement of the feet ofttimes causes burning and irritation of the feet. appliance in the form of a sock may be best utilized to absorb the excess perspiration and reduce the `friction to a minimum, and thus eliminate the detrimental results. The appliance includes a lower sole receiving member 39 and an upper member 40. The appliance may be in the form of a sock 41 having an ankle portion 42 and separate toe receiving compartments 43. Gussets 44 may also be provided intermediate each toe receiving compartment to substantially join them together and thus provide added strength for the compartments. A portion of the material may also be removed from the heel 45 of the sock 41 to provide an aperture 46 therein to permit circulation of air around the foot and also to facilitate ease of applying the appliance to the foot.

In use the size of the appliance, i.e., small, medium or large, should be chosen so that when in position on the foot the side walls 23 and the top wall 25 will contact the area of each individual toe and the webbed portion 32 will be disposed to contact the area between each toe, thus providing substantially full absorption of the perspiration that may gather.

It is therefore advantageous that an A layer of a substantially thin sheet of kraft paper 47 I (FIG. l) `co-extensive with and axed to the undersideof the lower member 11, may be utilized for the purpose of adding strength to the appliance to minimize the stretching or tearing of the material as the appliance is applied to the foot. The appliance is adapted to be worn under hosiery and when soiled, may be discarded. The appliance may also be medically treated with antiseptic powders or the like to enhance healing of irritated areas of the foot. y

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present `disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangements of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. A disposable foot appliance having a lower sole receiving member and a separately formed upper member secured thereto, said members comprising of a moisture absorbent soft paper tissue material, said upper member having an undulated front end portion and an uninterrupted foot receiving rear portion, a plurality of longitudinal extending loops and depressions in said upper member providing separate toe receiving compartments, said depressions extending from said undulated front end portion toward said rear end portion of said upper member and terminating therebetween to form webbed portions said webbed portions to be 4received in the area of the foot between each toe member to absorb excess moisture and means in said upper member to provide a circulation of air to the toe area.

2. A disposable foot appliance as dened in claim 1 wherein said lower sole receiving member has a thickness greater than that of said upper member.

3. A disposable foot appliance as dened in claim 1 wherein said means in said upper member providing circulation of air to each toe member comprises open ended toe receiving compartments.

4. A disposable foot 4appliance as defined in claim 1 wherein said means in said upper member providing circulation of air to each toe member -comprises an aperture adjacent each of said webbed portions.

5. A disposable foot appliance comprising a moisture absorbent soft paper tissue material, said appliance having lower sole receiving member and a separately joined upper member, said lower member being substantially oval shaped and having a forward portion and a rearward portion, said upper member affixed to said forward portion and extending transversely to the longitudinal axis of said lower member, said upper member having an open end undulated front end portion and an uninterrupted foot receiving rear portion, toe receiving compartments in said undulated front end portion of said upper member defined by a plurality of alternatively longitudinally disposed loops and depressions, said loops having side walls converging at an apex to form a top wall for said toe receiving compartments and at the bottom to form channels in said depressions, said channels having base portions to which is attached thereto said lower sole member, said side walls extending from the said undulated front end portion and terminating at a juncture to form webbed portions adjacent said rear end portion, said webbed portions adapted to be received in the area between each toe member to absorb moisture accumulated therebetween.

References Cited by the Examiner lUNITED STATES PATENTS 246,454 8/1881 Bruen. 1,308,483 7/1919 Craighead.

ROBERT E. MORGAN, Acting Primary Examiner.

SIMON BRODER, Examiner. 

1. A DISPOSABLE FOOT APPLIANCE HAVING A LOWER SOLE RECEIVING MEMBER AND A SEPARATELY FORMED UPPER MEMBER SECURED THERETO, SAID MEMBERS COMPRISING OF A MOISTURE ABSORBENT SOFT PAPER TISSUE MATERIAL, SAID UPPER MEMBER HAVING AN UNDULATED FRONT END PORTION AND AN UNITERRUPTED FOOT RECEIVING REAR PORTION, A PLURALITY OF LONGITUDINAL EXTENDING LOOPS AND DEPRESSIONS IN SAID UPPER MEMBER PROVIDING SEPARATE TOE RECEIVING COMPARTMENTS, SAID DEPRESSIONS EXTENDING FROM SAID UNDULATED FRONT END PORTION TOWARD SAID REAR END PORTION OF SAID UPPER MEMBER AND TERMINATING THEREBETWEEN TO FORM WEBBED PORTIONS SAID WEBBED PORTIONS TO BE RECEIVED IN THE AREA OF THE FOOT BETWEEN EACH TOE MEMBER TO ABSORB EXCESS MOISTURE AND MEANS IN SAID UPPER MEMBER TO PROVIDE A CIRCULATION OF AIR TO THE TOE AREA. 